The special
legislative session is slated to end mid-April and members of the House and Senate continue to work
together to reconcile a budget to send
to the governor for her signature.
Creating new sources of revenue is critical to reducing cuts to hunger relief and other
safety net programs, and support for new revenue is one of the AHNC’s top
legislative priorities. To date, only the House
budget includes new revenue to offset harmful cuts. The House revenue package
is part of how the proposed House budget is able to find funding for the
Coalition’s legislative priorities, including State Food Assistance, and other
health and safety net services, and it’s why we’ve asked you to be vocal in
your support for the House budget. Yet the Senate has been unwilling to close
loopholes and create new revenue.
Now
lawmakers from both the House and Senate are looking at enacting an
accounting change to save $238 million. More information on the specifics can
be found in this Seattle Times article: http://seattletimes.
If the accounting change is made, there is still $90
million needed to cover the health and safety net priorities in the Murray and
Hunter budgets. While an accounting change may save the state millions of needed
dollars, it is not a new source of revenue.
Without a new, long-term, stable source of revenue, lawmakers risk
having to make harmful cuts to programs every year.
Action: Please call your lawmakers and ask them to
support closing loopholes and creating new revenue sources to preserve the
safety net and stabilize our state budget – now and for the future.
Federal
update - Earlier this week we sent an action alert urging
you to support the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by
contacting lawmakers in DC and urging a “NO” vote on a proposal designed
by the House Budget Committee Chair, Rep. Paul Ryan, for the 2013 federal
budget. Among other devastating changes, this proposal calls for cutting $123
billion from food stamps by restructuring the program into a block grant. Anti-hunger and anti-poverty advocates are
deeply opposed to making SNAP a block grant to states because that means the
federal government would give each state a lump sum of money with a few
guidelines so that states can design their local rules for eligibility,
application processes, and dispensing food stamps that could limit access. Just
as important, block grants can run out in times of great need and eligible
people can go hungry because there isn’t money left in the program.
Yesterday lawmakers
in the House passed the Ryan Budget.
Next it will move to the Senate, where it is expected it will not come to a vote because of
Senate opposition to these drastic changes.
For more
information on how the Ryan budget would impact jobs and food security at the
local level, check out this article on potential impacts to our neighbors in
Yakima: http://www.examiner.com/
Action (Federal) - Show Your Support
for SNAP in the Farm Bill
In addition to the annual budget
process, SNAP can also be subject for redesign in the 2012 Farm Bill. The Farm
Bill funds and governs SNAP and is reauthorized every 5 years; in the past,
it’s been an opportunity to make the program more effective, more efficient and
meet more people’s needs. To ensure that the next Farm Bill maintains the
policies and structure that has made SNAP so effective over the past few years,
our friends at the Food Research and Action Center have put together a letter
that will go to each member of our Congressional
delegation. Please sign your organization onto this letter by April 6 :
org2.democracyinaction.org/o/
org2.democracyinaction.org/o/
Upcoming Events
AHNC Membership Meeting: Tuesday April 10th (2:30-4:30pm)
at NW
Harvest Kent Warehouse 22220 W. Valley Hwy. Kent, WA 98032
WithinReach
Annual Luncheon: April 25th
Northwest
Harvest Annual Meeting: June 1st
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